These are usually weather-related issues. This time, no. Spirit Airlines grounded 25 planes and canceled hundreds of flights on Friday owing to a problem with inspection of the impacted planes.
The aircraft were temporarily withdrawn for normal maintenance due to brackets on the planes' frames, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The planes will not be permitted to return to service with Spirit until all equipment has been inspected. Overall, Spirit had to cancel 11% of its flight schedule for Friday.
The examinations were described as regular but obligatory. "We've canceled part of our scheduled flights to perform an essential inspection of a small section of 25 of our aircraft," Spirit Airlines stated in a statement.
The effect on our network is likely to last several days while we conduct the inspections and try to restore regular operations."
Almost half of the cancellations were at one of Spirit's operating bases, Orlando International Airport in Florida.
Spirit canceled 89 flights and delayed another 86 on Saturday, according to statistics. As of Sunday afternoon, the airline had canceled 75 flights and delayed another 73.